As you may recall, Edward, Prince of Wales, abdicated the throne of the British Empire to marry a divorced American, Wallis Warfield Simpson. It rocked Britain in the 1930s; and as recently as November of last year, news about Edward – claiming that he had sought to deny Elizabeth II the throne – made the British press. A, perhaps, more interesting story, however, emerged in 1987 when Sotheby’s sold jewelry belonging to Edward and Wallis – the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – at auction.

The Duke had died in 1972, but it took another fourteen years for the Duchess to expire. Childless, or at least apparently so, the Duchess’ will left the proceeds of her jewelry collection to the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Since that time several books about famous jewelry collections or the Windsors have included descriptions of her jewelry and a couple of books on her collection, alone, were published shortly after her death. While most of the jewelry was remarkable for ‘the Windsor Style’ one rather humble piece, a charm necklace, has sparked a ‘conspiracy theory’. Ironically, it was purchased by Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed, an Egyptian businessman and father of Dodi Fayed, killed in the same automobile accident that took the life of Princess Diana. There are twelve charms on it, and the theorists contend that at least four of them are sentimental mementos of the Duke’s child by Wallis. As with all such ‘conspiracy’ theories, it rests on strictly circumstantial evidence; but for what it’s worth, the charms and the interpretations placed on them follow.

Chronologically, the first is a simple plate with a red enamel numeral ‘3’ on its front and on it’s obverse, three dates – 9/4/34 March 12th,1934 and 14/5/34. The conspiracy theorists see the ‘3’ as symbolic of Wallis’s putative pregnancy and the dates (remember, they were Europeans, so the first number is that of the day of the month) they see as veiled references to significant dates in their relationship and her ‘pregnancy’. The second is a hinged notebook engraved and enameled on the inside with the (then) Prince of Wales initials. It is dated: June 1934 1st-4th; and the theorists insist that the Duke had given it to Wallis in memory of her stay in a hospital giving birth. The third is a heavy, oval charm reading ‘OK’ while it’s reverse side is engraved ‘I doo too July’. The conspiracy theorists see this as a reference to ‘the baby’; but it beats me how that connection was made. Finally, the fourth charm is a locket dated “April ’35”. The inside of the locket, insist the theorists, is a ‘hair compartment’ (designed to hold a lock of hair and common in 19th century England); and it is engraved ‘Wallis-David’. In fact, this charm is connected to a bit of ‘provenance’ – at least it is if you subscribe to the conspiracy theory. It is, the theorists insist, a ‘coded’ reference to Wallis being a mother (the ‘real’ message hidden in the form of underlined letters). Pay attention, here, the point of all of this analysis of the meaning of the Duchess’ jewelry, of course, leads to a question, “What happened to the baby?”

Secret British files opened in 2003 revealed that the romance between King Edward VIII and Wallace Warfield Simpson had been closely monitored by detectives from police ‘Special Branch’, who, incidentally, reported that she was two-timing Edward with another man. The revelation that there had been secret government behavior set the theorists off and running (What would a conspiracy theory be without secret agents?). Wallis and Edward, they insist, were told that their child had died at birth. Unbeknownst to Wallis and Edward (conspiracy theorists always have a lot of ‘unbeknownsts’), however, their child, a daughter, had been spirited away by the British Government and given a new identity in – of all places – Marietta, Ohio. Now, I’ll leave all further investigation of this conspiracy theory and any questions about the fate of ‘ Elizabeth Marie Francis’ to you.

Rather than secret messages and dark stories, the best of our contemporary romances are played out in the open; and while jewelry does play a part, it is joyously above board. Hence the beauty of the Hearts On Fire diamond. It is the world’s most perfectly cut diamond; and that means that its beauty is simply without peer. No diamond equals it; so when you give it as a gift it very obviously carries with it the most joyous of messages – “I love you and I want everyone to know it!” Check out our Hearts On Fire collection on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment to select the very most perfect diamond for the love of your life. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers and we’ll help you realize your most beautiful dreams (even if we don’t have any ‘black helicopters’ at our disposal).